Despite rising unemployment rates, nearly 70 percent of the world’s population is employed, meaning there is an ample supply of workers to go around. There are approximately 5 billion jobs worldwide, and the number is expected to grow as more young people enter the labor force. As of January 2019, there are only 3.8 million jobs available in the United States. While the unemployment rate has steadily declined, the number of people leaving the labor force is increasing.
According to the World Economic Forum, 470 million jobs are needed globally between 2016 and 2030. Insufficient investment and a low level of consumption will lead to a lack of good jobs for the unemployed. While manufacturing jobs have decreased by 3% globally in the past two decades, production has grown nearly 20%. In contrast, the youngest populations are in Southeast Asia and Africa, where life expectancies are lower and birth rates are higher.
While the ILO’s report provides a high-level snapshot of employment, it’s important to note that many countries do not collect regular national statistics. For this reason, the ILO uses a model to estimate trends in employment across 66 countries and makes best guesses when there’s missing data. The result is a more accurate picture of global employment than any single report. So, it’s important to understand the implications of this trend when calculating employment levels.
